I know that I have taken a break on what is going on in my home and I thought today I would give you a fun preview of things to come.  It has been fun to enter into other people’s homes like Ashley, Erika, and Kristin.  I am excited to enter into more but next week I will return with what is going on with the DIY in my home.  I thought I would give you a peek behind the curtains of what has been going on with me this week.  I have said many times before that I am a part-time blogger with a full-time job.  On top of that I am a wife trying to keep this household together and support the Hubs in what he does.  Not every day can be a DIY day so I thought I would share what I have been up to lately (with a couple of previews of projects to come)

1.)  We have been constantly teaching Finnley to not enter any room unless we enter first or allow him to.

Isn’t he cute?  His left ear is perked waiting for me to say that precious word that allows him in.  He literally will not cross the threshold from the laundry room to the kitchen unless we go first and say “Okay”.  This was no easy task, and we still have mishaps but it has made life better.  I have said “no” and “kennel” more times than I can count.  Finnley is our rescue Vizsla. We kind of got lazy on ole’ Finn.  He came into our home in August and we just kind of expected that he would be just like Piper….the best dog ever.  He is a fabulous dog but we needed a lesson in responsibility and he needed a lesson that he doesn’t own our house.  We are also teaching him not to jump on people.  The best trick we have learned (and it takes practice) is that he does not get petted in any way without first sitting.  If he does jump we just turn around and walk away…no affection.  He saw us pushing him off of us as playfulness so we had to try something different.  It has been a process but it works so well.  He still has mishaps with guests who don’t know our rules but we have seen a serious decrease in jumping up.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time he jumped on me.  Do any of you have any great dog training tricks?

2.)  We had a small plumbing issue this week.

Ho hum, the joys of home ownership.  Its times like this that I wish I were in a rental and it was somebody’s job to fix it.  This is in our guest bathroom, but its to fix a problem in the master bathroom.  The hubs has been working in our crawl space lately to make it more energy-efficient (did I mention that my hubs is a big green guy?…not literally, but he is all about being green..the energy efficiency kind)  I will be sharing some of what he has done but while he was down there he decided to check for leaks.  We don’t have any when all the faucets are turned off, but when we shower in our bathroom we have a tiny drip that comes down the wall to the crawl space.  I must insert  that it did not cause our large, misread water bill.  It was a tiny leak that has been happening over time. Just an update, we did get back our readjusted water bill and it went from $385 to $26!  Anyway, we had to fix the leak.  I am glad the hubs found it, but it put a hole in my guest bathroom wall.  Thankfully its the part of the wall behind the bathroom mirror.   I painted this bathroom before christmas (to be shared soon) and I was so sad that my masterpiece was going to be cut up.  It’s a funny story I will share later.  Oh the things we will sacrifice to protect our hard work.  The hubs had to give me a little reality check.  I am so glad I have him in my life.

3.)  I finally moved out the dog’s thrift chair.

This chair has been in my life for 5 years.  It was old and $10.  I moved it into my laundry room and its the only chair the dogs could jump on.  The fabric was a weaved fabric that became gross with dogs.  I got rid of it and replaced it with this $20.oo thrift store chair:

I put it in the room, walked out to grab my camera and walked back in to this.  I mean it wasn’t in the room for 10 seconds and it was already occupied.

Doesn’t Finnley looked so mannerly and refined with his legs crossed?  I posted here how I keep my dogs off all other furniture, but the chair in this room will be theirs.   The problem is that I like to sit here too.  I have decided I am going to recover, paint, or re-upholster this chair,but it will be daily be protected by a washable blanket.   If you were to barge in unannounced  into my house , you will find it with a huge blanket over it because it’s in the mudroom and the dogs are allowed on it.  If you come over as a guest then the blanket will be off and the dogs in their kennels.

4.)  I found this collapsible bowl in a thrift store.

What in the world would you use a collapsible bowl for?  It’s like a small version of those collapsible laundry baskets.  I am truly baffled by its original use, but I lightbulb went off in my head of how I could rehab it.  For a dollar I snagged it and I am going to work on it this weekend.  Notice what it’s resting on.  This a preview of a project I worked on last weekend…my new coffee table ottoman.  It started out looking like the table in this picture:

5.)  I have been trying to enjoy  that my third bedroom looking like this:

I know this room will not be pinned on Pinterest.  Its not an interior design master piece, but its my workout room, and even has a bed for guests.  I refuse to decorate it because one day it might be a nursery.  (no mom…not yet)  It serves a good purpose now so why waste my money.  I have to enjoy it now because It’s about to get crazy again. I have committed to decorate another wedding this spring and it will be filled with candles, lanterns, fabric…and whatever else the bride wants.  I am excited though!  I love this kind of stuff.

6.)  We have been busy feeding our neighbor’s pig

We love our neighbors and since they are FANTASTIC neighbors who always are helping us out.  For example, the hubs was gone for a week working and our grass was growing so tall it was embarrassing.  I tried to mow it and couldn’t get our mower to work.  In my frustration, I gave up.   An hour later I heard the sound of a mower.  Our neighbor had seen my fight with the mower , knew the hubs was gone so he selflessly proceeded to mow my lawn.   All that to say, we love to help out when they need us to.  They have been busy so we have helped them with their dogs…and pig.  She is the cutest pot-bellied pig ever and she is literally a pig that acts like a dog.  She is a small pig but such a clean animal and just follows us around and snorts.  We laugh a ton when we are with her and it just brings some joy to our day.

7.)  Finally, I changed the Quote on my Chalkboard wall:

I thought this was a great reminder to set your priorities straight.  So in honor of what is important…I’m off to go eat some dinner with the hubs and watch a movie.  No projects tonight….just time to relax.

Have a great weekend,

Jennifer

If you liked this post, you might like these:

The Laundry Room

Dog & Guest Friendly Home

Making Room for Two Dogs